Rurik
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Rurik was a Varangian chieftain of the Rus' who, according to tradition, was invited to reign in Novgorod in the year 862. The Primary Chronicle states that Rurik was succeeded by his kinsman Oleg who was regent for his infant son Igor.
Rorik of Dorestad, as conceived by H. W. Koekkoek (1912)
Image of Rurik in the "Tsar's titularnik" (1672)
Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive at Ladoga. Painted by Viktor Vasnetsov (c. 1913)
Varangians
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The Varangians were Viking conquerors, traders and settlers, mostly from present-day Sweden. The Varangians settled in the territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine from the 8th and 9th centuries, and established the state of Kievan Rus' as well as the principalities of Polotsk and Turov. They also formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard, which later also included Anglo-Saxons.
One of the runic inscriptions in Hagia Sophia, probably carved by members of the Varangian Guard
Piraeus Lion drawing of curved lindworm. The runes on the lion tell of Swedish warriors, most likely Varangians, mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor.
Nicholas Roerich: Guests from Overseas (1899)
Viktor Vasnetsov, The Invitation of the Varangians: Rurik and his brothers arrive in Staraya Ladoga.